IMAGINE THAT YOU COULD solve most of your health problems AND lose up 10 pounds in just 7 days.

That’s an amazing claim — but it IS possible.

For those of you who have been reading my blogs and books, you already know this is possible.

I have seen miracles occur so many times in my own patients, and from all the people who have visited my website, posted their stories, and completed this diet challenge.

My true goal is to help people feel better. Period.

I know what it is like to wake up every morning feeling like you can’t go on. I know what it’s like to have seemingly endless minor complaints that lower the capacity to enjoy life. You see, I once was seriously ill with chronic fatigue syndrome. But I changed my life and got better — and you can, too.

Of course, with more serious illnesses like this, it may take more than one week to find the cause and the cure. But don’t give up.

Using the tools functional medicine provides, it is possible for people with chronic illness to get better over time.

In fact, I now believe that most people walk around just accepting feeling mediocre … Once you know what it’s like to feel truly healthy, you’ll never go back.

How to Heal from Chronic Illness and Lose Weight

We now know that the ONLY way to truly address and heal weight problems and disease is to get to the ROOT of the problem. You need to find the cause and then get rid of it and help the body heal.

The secret is to very quickly stop consuming the things that make you toxic and inflamed — like sugar, caffeine, alcohol, junk food, and processed foods. Then you want to do things that help you detoxify and cool off inflammation — like eating whole, real foods, eliminating all potential food allergens, cleaning out your bowels, and relaxing deeply. That’s when miracles can occur.

The scientific research supporting the role of inflammation and toxins in illness is overwhelming, but most doctors don’t know how to help their patients deal with it. I used to be one of those doctors.

I was trained in conventional medicine, practiced it for 10 years, and helped many people using the tools I was trained to use — namely, medications and surgery. While I worked in the emergency room, those tools worked amazingly well, bringing people back from the brink of death and relieving suffering.

But then I realized that I wasn’t helping the some 125 million Americans who suffer from some type of chronic illness, or the millions more who just don’t feel well.

In fact, I now believe that most people walk around just accepting feeling mediocre — with symptoms like fatigue, aches, brain fog, memory problems, depression, headaches, congestion, allergies, digestive problems, joint pains, PMS, and skin problems. These people may not have an actual disease, but they certainly have problems that rob them from feeling great.

How many people do you know who can say that they feel fully alive, full of energy, and able to greet the day with joy and enthusiasm?

How many of us can really do that?

Well, I know that this is possible for most people.

But the sad thing is that most people don’t know why they feel less than fully alive and healthy, and don’t connect it to their behavior or habits. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The key to creating health isn’t taking another medication! It is figuring out the cause of the problem, and then providing the right conditions for the body and soul to thrive.

I’m here to show you how to do just that.

Over the last 20 years of practicing at Canyon Ranch, founding The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, and working with dozens of other leaders in the emerging field of functional and systems medicine, I have learned the few simple things that make the most difference for the most people.

That is why I write the books I write.

When I wrote UltraMetabolism, my true goal wasn’t to help people lose weight, but to deal with the causes of obesity and disease as a whole. And it has been remarkably effective.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the feedback I’ve received because I know I can help people one on one, but I didn’t know just following my recommendations in a book would truly help people.

I have been overwhelmed by how people’s lives have changed. Here is an email someone sent to me after trying UltraMetabolism.

“Through reading and following the eating plan in your book I have discovered I am gluten intolerant. Six weeks after starting your plan I had not only lost 13 pounds, but also the all-over bloated feeling, excess gas, stomach discomfort and thickening around the middle that I was experiencing. The puffiness and dark circles under my eyes are gone and I am no longer depressed.

I feel terrific, which is my motivation for staying with the plan (including 45 to 60 minutes a day of strength training and yoga). I have read the comments of others and like many of them, I no longer enjoy foods that are bad for me and crave the foods that are good for me.

Unfortunately, feeling terrific is not enough motivation for some people. And I am amazed and even saddened that there are so many other people out there with a defeatist attitude. Many of my friends told me the discomforts I was experiencing were a normal part of aging and that I needed to learn to accept it.

Wow, were they ever wrong!! Your book has shown me caring for my physical self is essential, especially as I age. I am 48 and thanks to your book I am not getting older, I’m getting better, and growing old gracefully is not an option but a cop-out.

THANK YOU!!!!

PS: The only thing I am missing now is conversing with someone I can relate to.”

Wow is right!

UltraMetabolism is a complete, comprehensive system dealing with ALL the causes of obesity (and most illnesses and aging).

But after I wrote it, I kept getting requests for something easy and simple to get started with.

I resisted because I don’t believe in quick-fix diets, even though my readers and publisher were pushing me to do it.

Then I realized something.

I realized that I could share the same program I have been giving to my patients to help them feel great very quickly and lose weight immediately. I could share it without compromising my true goal of helping people get to the root of their health and weight problems.

And it occurred to me that what I do for nearly every patient who comes to see me is to give them a chance to see just how sick they have been and how powerful making a few simple changes can be in just one week.

Once they realize how their food choices and their behaviors make them feel sick — and they experience a taste of UltraWellness — they are empowered to make changes that can help them feel great and lose weight for the long term.

The most important things to address at the outset for weight loss and creating UltraWellness are inflammation and toxicity. These are among the two biggest causes of chronic disease and obesity.

This book gives you all the tricks and tools I have used successfully with thousands of patients for so many years. In one short week, I teach you how to detoxify and to cool off chronic inflammation.

After I published the book, I realized we could take the experience to a whole other level using online tools and a support community. That’s when I developed The UltraSimple Diet Challenge. 500 people participated and the results were amazing. People tracked their medical symptoms — things like headaches, fatigue, digestive problems, congestion, joint pain, depression, and more.

The results were dramatic. In just a week, they had an average of 51.15% reduction in their symptoms. And they lost an average of 5.53 pounds (many lost over 10 lbs) and lost an average of 1.37 inches from their waists and 0.94 inches from their hips! To me the weight loss is nice — and happens automatically — but it isn’t the main objective.

The real benefit is the possibility of people experiencing UltraWellness — a state of deep and true health and vitality. And it happens so quickly. You don’t need to believe me — just try it yourself for only one week.

And tell your friends. Pass this along.

I believe that if enough people really get to experience the difference in their health in one week of The UltraSimple Diet, it will change them forever.

And if enough people have this positive change, this will create a cultural shift that may be able to counteract the powerful food and pharmaceutical industries that harm our health.

I have been shocked by how powerful this one-week program can be and hope to hear back from you on what your experience is like. In addition to the book, I have also created The Ultrasimple Diet Companion Guide which you can download for free here.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

About Mark Hyman, MD

Mark Hyman, MD, believes that we all deserve a life of vitality—and that we have the potential to create it for ourselves. That’s why he is dedicated to tackling the root causes of chronic disease by harnessing the power of Functional Medicine to transform healthcare. He is a practicing family physician, an nine-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in his field. He is the Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is also the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor of The Huffington Post, and has been a regular medical contributor on many television shows including CBS This Morning, the Today Show, CNN, The View, the Katie Couric show and The Dr. Oz Show.

7 Responses to The UltraSimple Diet: Kick-Start Your Metabolism and Safely Lose up to 10 Pounds in 7 Days

Thank you for all the information, I am so excited about the possibilities of healing people. I am trying to heal myself of something also. I did do the 10 day detox, but found it escalated my anxiety. The anxiety in my chest was very bad during the detox. I decided on the 10th day to start eating oatmeal again and took some b complex and i think it calmed my anxiety. Not sure if this was the culprit. If you can give me any feedback that would be greatly appreciated.

If you are able to send me the ultra simple diet, I would like to see what that entails. I think what Dr. Hyman is doing is fantastic. Finally someone has stepped up to the plate to heal people. Thank you! I struggle with hair issues related to hypothyroidism so want to get any info. on this.

Dear Dr. Hyman,
God has used you to save my life. I am deeply grateful that God divinely orchestrated my finding your article on gut inflammation. My husband and I are strong Christians who believe in prayer; we were on our knees praying for a cure for my rising blood pressure, muscle weakness, and symptoms of flushing and tachycardia.
I had lab tests showing a CRP of six, transaminases above 100 and a renal ultrasound
showed bilateral renal artery stenosis. My abdomen was bloated and ultrasound showed
fatty liver. I had not heard of you until that moment when God prompted me immediately after my prayer with a strong urge to type in what causes elevated C reactive protein. Your program came up on the search.

It was a miracle that after starting Xifaxan as your recommended in your writings
along with the ultrasimple diet’s supplements and vitamins that my abdominal
bloating reduced, my crp fell from six to 1.2, and my abdominal CT scan showed my
renal arteries were entirely normal, and my transaminases reduced. I feel more energized and I have lost weight.
Many people comment that my face looks really vibrant. I intend to continue your supplement and your diet.

My husband has also started your program with me and has lost weight and has
increased vitality. He is an internal medicine M.D. in San Francisco and has been advocating your programs to patients. He will be studying functional medicine with great interest this year.
We thank you for all your suggestions. May God bless you.

Great program. I saw the Dr OZ segment and used the diet plan on his site that was created with your program. its been amazing. I feel great and my body shape and chemistry has changed drastically. its been 1 week. I am planning to do the next step and start the Ultra diet now with more rigor.

I need to now help my son who is fifteen to get on this program. need to find things that will work well for a school schedule.